DraftKings Targets Kalshi and Polymarket’s Lead with Bold Predictions Market Launch
DraftKings just threw a haymaker at the predictions market space—and it's aimed squarely at Kalshi and crypto-native leader Polymarket. The sports betting giant is officially launching its own platform, turning every major event into a potential wager.
The New Arena
Forget just sports. This move opens betting on everything from election outcomes to climate milestones. It's a direct challenge to the niche dominance built by Kalshi's regulatory-first approach and Polymarket's decentralized, crypto-powered model.
Why This Shakes the Table
DraftKings brings something the incumbents lack: massive scale and mainstream user trust. Millions of existing customers could now get their first taste of event-based predictions without ever touching a crypto wallet. It's a user acquisition shortcut that bypasses the entire onboarding friction of Web3.
The Incumbent Counter-Punch
Polymarket's lead isn't trivial—it's built on censorship resistance and global access. Kalshi has painstakingly navigated U.S. regulations. DraftKings' entry validates the entire sector but also risks commoditizing it, turning sophisticated prediction markets into just another tab on a sportsbook app. A classic finance move: spot a niche, throw capital at it, and watch margins evaporate.
The final bell hasn't rung, but the arena just got a lot more crowded. One thing's clear: the future of 'what happens next' is now a battleground.
DraftKings launches DraftKings Predictions
DraftKings has launched a subsidiary called DraftKings Predictions, directly competing with established prediction platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket in the booming events prediction market.
The platform launched in 38 states and competes with existing prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket.
The new platform operates under U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) supervision. DraftKings Predictions registered as a CFTC Introducing Broker and Member of the National Futures Association. The platform intends to initially offer markets in sports and finance before expanding into entertainment and culture categories as the product matures.
“DraftKings Predictions is a significant milestone and reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering products that tap into the passion of our customers,” Corey Gottlieb, the Chief Product Officer of DraftKings, said.
The company plans to take advantage of strategic partnerships with ESPN and NBCUniversal to create what Gottlieb describes as “an authentic, real-time product that moves at the speed of sports.”
Sports event contracts are available in states where traditional sports betting remains illegal, including California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. This is because prediction markets are classified as event contracts under CFTC jurisdiction rather than gambling under state gaming laws.
How is DraftKings Predictions different from Kalshi and Polymarket?
DraftKings Predictions as at its launch, connects to CME Group, one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges. Kalshi, on the other hand, operates its own CFTC-regulated exchange, and Polymarket operates on blockchain technology, and it became compliant with CFTC registration standards in late 2025.
DraftKings Predictions plans to integrate Railbird Technologies Inc. and its subsidiary Railbird Exchange, LLC, which DraftKings recently acquired. This integration is expected to increase the available markets, enable product innovation, and provide economic advantages over time.
DraftKings operates sophisticated marketing and analytics systems, has an established customer base of millions of users, and maintains partnerships with major media companies.
The company recently implemented a “Responsible Trading program, that allows users to set deposit limits, take cooling-off periods, self-exclude, and access educational materials through the DraftKings Responsible Trading Center within the app.
Kalshi became the first prediction market exchange to be regulated by the CFTC in 2021, and gained its popularity through predictions around political events.
Polymarket had its time in the spotlight in the 2024 election period, when it capped a period of record activity with accurately predicting President Trump’s victory when most traditional polls had the candidates neck and neck. But it had to weather a few rough months of scaled-up faced regulatory scrutiny for serving U.S. customers without proper registration.
DraftKings’ pivot into the prediction markets signals the growing mainstream adoption of such markets, but Kalshi and Polymarket maintain a very healthy lead on many of the new entrants into the sector.
The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.
